Kasper Larsson has a look at creating a head aim switch for a character rig in Maya — The “right” way. Certainly there are many ways to make an aim switch, this represents Kasper’s tried and true version.
Features like this are nice upgrades to rigs that you can create that animator’s might thank you for. The workflow is all about setting up a head aim so that the animator doesn’t need to counter animate the head when fixed on a position.
By adding a switch, an animator can activate the the aim controller to a specific point in the scene. If a character was walking by, the head would automatically turn to face that direction. This kind of switch can really optimize animation workflow for the animator. Kasper walks through creating the head aim switch, while offering some nice tips for rigging one.
This tutorial comes as a free excerpt from Kasper’s Biped Rigging Course, which looks to be an intensive 8 wk class on everything rigging.